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Never Forget

Health insurance costs to rise for Bangor Employees

Posted On: Apr 10, 2009

By Dawn Gagnon

Thursday, June 21, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

BANGOR — City employees, especially those who choose the more expensive health plans, will have to dig deeper into their own pockets in the coming year.

As it stands, the city insures about 600 workers, including Bangor Public Library employees and members of the Bangor Housing Authority staff, City Manager Edward Barrett said Wednesday.

This year, however, the city has been hit with a 49 percent increase for its coverage from Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

Barrett attributed the increase to the fact that the city’s labor pool is large enough to be self-rated and that the past year had brought "a large number of large claims."

The increase, he said earlier this month, translates to a more than $725,000 increase in the city’s operating costs.

A portion of the increase, however, will be offset by the $295,000 the city received from the building permit fee paid by Penn National Gaming Inc. for its $131 million Hollywood Slots at Bangor complex. The facility is under construction on Main Street.

Given the rate increase, Barrett said, the library and housing authority "may be looking at other options" for health insurance.

The city initially proposed limiting its portion of the 49 percent increase to about 15 percent, or two times the 2.47 percent growth factor set this year for LD 1 tax reform purposes, but that would have more than doubled contributions for some employees.

For many, if not most, workers, this would have resulted in a significant cut in take-home pay in spite of any cost of living or merit increases they might receive.

It also would have put health insurance out of reach of many employees, something Barrett said the city wants to avoid.

To that end, the city will pay the usual 75 percent to 80 percent contribution toward employees’ health insurance coverage, but apply that to the city’s least expensive plan.

Those who have more expensive plans will have to make up the difference themselves.

The city’s least costly plan, a preferred-provider organization, or PPO, is the same plan offered to members of the city’s teachers’ union, Barrett said.

The city also offers a more expensive health maintenance organization, or HMO, plan as well as a "full-service" plan, which is the most costly of the three.

How the changes will affect individual employees will vary, Barrett said.

The city is putting together a committee to explore ways to stabilize costs, which have ranged from no increase this year to more than 20 percent in other years, Barrett said.